In More Ways Than Flame
by Pirate-Crisis
Summary: If you can remake memories, can you remake destinies? Living in a paradise, Axel and Roxas know something's out there, and they want more... But can they really make anything of this borrowed fate? [AkuRoku.]
1. Prologue: Star Sea

_Cold, _Axel thought as his sight faded. He was watching the familiar blue eyes of a stranger as his life left. He knew who it was, and it wasn't the one he wanted to see.

A storm of sensation flooded his mind. _Death_, he thought, _is just supposed to be a load of black and then nothing else, right?_

Epiphany.

_What if you don't have a heart?_

"Like that would matter," A voice said. A warm voice, if apathetic… familiar. Familiar, that word, he clung to that word. "Open your eyes, Axel."

The world spun into focus around him. An infinite sea of stars stretched on for as far as the eye could see. It was a real ocean of stars, however, as the sky above was pure black, a cloak of velvet that occasionally dripped its shadows into the sea below.

_Drip. Drip. Drip. _Steady, and slow. Each drop for each heartbeat that Axel felt in his throat as he looked upon the figure in front of him.

Axel knew every line of that body. Every wisp of blond hair, every muscle, every glance…

"Roxas!"

The younger Nobody did not turn around; he instead sighed.

"Roxas, I'm sorry, I-"

"Why are you apologizing?"

The slender form began to fade.

"Don't leave me!" Axel cried, forcing words out that he'd forgotten to say aloud before, the last time the blond had walked away from him. "Please, you can't-" He got to his feet and walked to the other, groping for his hand in the semi-darkness. From each of his footsteps, a ripple spread across the surface of the stars. "L-look, we'll, we'll-" He tripped, and hit his knees. "I-it'll be better this time, no Organization, no-"

"There is no 'this time,' Axel."

The single step that Roxas took somehow put a mile between them. As if on a cue, the stars beneath him began to swallow his legs, creeping up in shimmering tendrils, ensnaring him, and pulling him down. The redhead yelled in protest, calling for Roxas, cursing the Nobodies, before finally, Roxas turned around.

Axel felt what little heat was left in his body leave him. Roxas' blue eyes were damp from tears, but they seemed to hold no remorse. They held no love, and little rage.

"We don't get a second chance, Axel."

He turned and kept walking through the infinity, farther and farther from Axel with every step.

"And why not?!" Axel yelled at his back, "Why not?! Is it because we don't have hearts? Is that all?" He reached, fighting against the snare beneath him, but only fell flat on his face, arm extended towards the retreating figure of his friend; of his love. His voice was quiet, his strength leaving. "Don't walk away from me like you have all the answers. Can we have a second chance? Ever?"

The footsteps stopped as Axel felt himself slipping, floating downwards.

And he heard his last thought,

_Fire burns in more ways than flame._


	2. 1: Raft

**Chapter One- **

Raft

There was a reason that the Destiny Islands were plural- they were a chain of five islands, all linked together with no more than a mile of water between any of them. They welcomed warm climates year round and blue skies most of the time. The main island was the only one large enough to be inhabited, and three of the others were nothing more than glorified sandbars.

However, the second largest island was where most of the kids went to hide out when not in school, mainly to hide from their parents. There was a freshwater spring that gave the island its lush flora, and there were all sorts of caves to explore. One could walk around the entire island in about twenty minutes. In all honesty, it was just there for innocent fun. Sure, there were little fist-fights that broke out between the boys, but all in good humor, ending with the loser pouting for about an hour before forgetting about it in the noontime sunshine. The kids had somehow secured a deck and docks and all manner of tree houses, including a little fortified tunnel that ran through the hills of the island, connecting two of the little tree houses. Ladders ran up walls into little nooks and crannies where the kids buried time capsules and all sorts of little treasure.

This was paradise, and they all knew it.

---

Axel loved mid-day. It was when the sun was at its strongest, and gave him the most energy.

Not that you would know it, as he was sleeping through said energy. Heat washed over the beach, and the waves were growing higher as the tide came in. It was about the time that they started lapping at Axel's bare heels that he was aware of a shadow blocking his would-be photosynthesis.

"I'm going to laugh when you get sunburned."

"You're blocking my sun, Roxas." Axel said, without opening his eyes.

"I'm going to laugh, and then I'm going to poke you where ever it is that happens to be the most red."

"Lemmiesleep, Roxas." Axel mumbled, rolling over in the sand.

"After that, I plan to tape your fingers together and call you Sebastian."

"Okay, that's just _mean_." The fiery redhead sat up. "What is it you want, anyway?"

"You're slacking off." Roxas frowned, sitting next to him.

"And what's this, you care to join me?"

"Shut up." The blond frowned. "I just want to go, and you're not helping us leave any faster."

"Yes, because it's completely logical that a raft's gonna take us all the way to the stars." Axel laughed. They'd been trying for about a month to get this raft idea working. Roxas was determined to use it to get somewhere other than this little island. "Even I pay enough attention in class to know that there's nothing on this planet other than the main country, and the Destiny Islands."

"There's gotta be something else," Roxas frowned at the horizon. "There's gotta be." He got to his feet, dusting sand off his pants. "So, are you gonna help me or what, loser?" A smile tugged at the corners of his now-forced frown.

Axel's grin widened. "Absolutely."

---

The thing about nights on the Islands was that it was never too cold. Winds that blew in from the ocean kept everything mild, if a little muggy. Axel was tying one end of a hammock to a tree as Roxas was banging away on his wooden raft with a rubber mallet. Ignoring his blond friend for a moment, he wandered away to the makeshift dock that had been built years before they'd ever arrived, dragging his little canoe up onto the shore, with the help of the still-high tide. He always tossed random supplies in the boat, and he and Roxas had been planning- in the same way they planned the raft, planning and planning and never doing anything- to stay overnight on the island for some time now. He returned, arms full of random equipment.

"A glorious night under the stars!" Axel said in a semi-sing-song tone, dropping the stuff on the sand and tying the other end of the hammock to a nearby palm.

"Mmm," Roxas muttered absentmindedly through a mouthful of nails.

"A wonderful dinner, prepared by yours truly," The redhead opened a Tupperware container with bologna sandwiches inside.

Roxas waved him off, hammering away.

"Romantic firelight," He said, stabbing a tiki torch into the sand.

"Mmphm."

Axel rolled his eyes, knowing his comments wouldn't phase the younger teen. There had been an incident a few months ago that ended in Axel confessing a little more about his emotions than Roxas needed to hear.

And Roxas hadn't hated him for it.

You couldn't say that they were lovers now, no, but they were more than friends in just a slight way. Axel could steal a touch of Roxas' hand, borrow a kiss. (Though it wasn't like he'd give it back or anything…)

His reaction had been strange; it was like Roxas knew it was going to happen.

Just like it was _supposed to happen_.

"Hey!" Axel yelled suddenly, dragging himself out of his own thoughts. "Pencils down, the test is over, class!"

Roxas snorted and put the hammer down.

"We need to relax." Axel said matter-of-factly. "Immediately. Without delay. Straight awa-"

"I get it, you're bored."

"Precisely." He arched a single red eyebrow in amusement. "Kam, kam, my dahlink, to mai loave shack."

Roxas shook his head at his friend's strange accent. "Was that supposed to be English?"

"Just get over here."

Axel climbed into the hammock, and invited Roxas to come lay on top of him. 

"There's no way that that can possibly be safe."

"We'll find out, won't we?"

Carefully, awkwardly, Roxas settled into the hammock with shaky hands, fully expecting to tumble out at any moment. He was about a head shorter than Axel; their feet mingled together, and Roxas' head rested on the older one's shoulder.

"This is nice." Axel said, closing his eyes.

"Pervert."

"What?"

"You planned this." 

"What, you expect a cheapskate like me to own more than one hammock?"

A light breeze blew at them, shutting them up.

"It's so beautiful here," Roxas murmured after a while, watching the light of the torch dance on the plants around them. They were on the backside of the island, and the lights from the mainland couldn't be seen. The faint moonlight danced on the water, and the stars gave off a soft glow. In his peripheral vision, off in the distance, Axel was convinced he saw a few dolphins playing in the placid waters of their little peninsula.

That's how their night went. Faint breeze rocking the hammock occasionally, waves gently breaking on the shore. No noise, no light save for the moon once their torch ran out of fuel.

It was around midnight that a rumble of thunder woke Axel, who shook Roxas awake when the booming sound repeated itself. The wind was picking up, and it had ripped the torch out of the ground and thrown it about five feet away. Their beautiful sky had clouded over, and just as they fell out of the hammock onto the sand, the heavens opened up, and it started to pour.

"Where'd this storm come from?" Axel yelled as they ran blindly for cover.

"Better question: Where's the safest shelter?"

They were planning to duck into one of the tunnels on the island that had a door, only to find that the wind had oh-so-kindly removed it for them. They dashed through the small room to the other side of the island.

"The cave!" Roxas shouted over the quickening wind.

"Right behind you!" Axel called, glancing over his shoulder at the mainland. It was either obscured by rain, or the power had gone out.

Leaping up an embankment, the two dashed past the one of the waterfalls that flowed from the freshwater spring, under some brush and other plants into a little burrow. They'd discovered it years ago, and had spent most of those years drawing all over the walls with chalk and rocks. It was still a good little hideaway, and not many people noticed it. The floor was surprisingly damp, and they wandered in deeper to avoid the rain.

The roots of the trees on the island held this little cave up, fortifying the stone and keeping the roof up. In the very back was a wooden door, surprisingly well-kept for being so old. It had lost the luster of its polish some years before, but the gold inlay still shone, and seemed to glow slightly in the dark.

Axel shook what water he could off of him, resembling a dog for a moment. His hair puffed out more than usual. Roxas, now even i wetter /i , was not amused. He proceeded to wring out his shirt and attempt to dry his hair by running his hand through it.

"I guess we're stuck here until the rain passes, huh?"

"I guess," Roxas frowned.

There was a scuff behind them of rubber on granite, a boot scraping the smooth stone of the floor.

"Who's there?" Axel spun, stepping protectively in front of Roxas without really thinking.

A figure in a black, hooded coat just stood, his face in shadow.

"Who're you?"

He said nothing, and Roxas felt a twinge in his chest. The man seemed familiar, and he couldn't place why.

"I said-" 

"This world has been connected." He stated calmly.

"…What?" Axel raised an eyebrow.

"_This world has been connected._"

"That's great, buddy-"

_Are you liking your illusion, Axel?_ The voice was no longer echoing in the caves; it echoed in Axel's head, making him dizzy and feeling sick. _I hope you enjoy this little false destiny, because its owner wants it back._

Axel felt his eyes roll in his head and was half aware of Roxas yelling his name as the floor rushed to meet him, and he passed out cold. The pain in his head faded, and he felt as though he were drifting away on a little wooden raft, lost at sea.


End file.
